The present invention relates generally to printed wiring board assemblies, and more particularly, to a coplanarity inspection fixture for use in determining the coplanarity of a printed wiring assembly with respect to an attached edge connector.
When a printed wiring board module assembly is installed into a backplane, two card guides provide alignment during insertion of an edge connector with a mating receptacle. If the attached edge connector is not correctly aligned with the printed wiring board module, in that it is not parallel and/or is offset, the connector pins on the edge connector may be bent or damaged during connector mating. The present invention provides for apparatus that quickly and accurately inspects the alignment between the printed wiring board module and edge connector prior to pin insertion and/or mating, thereby minimizing the possibility of damaging or bending the pins of the edge connector and the mating sockets on the mating connector.
There is no known prior an relating to printed wiring board module coplanarity inspection fixtures. Previously the inspection process supplanted by the present invention required specialized inspection equipment, such as a coordinate machine. Inspection procedures perfomed using a coordinate machine are complex and require specialized inspectors.
In view of the above, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for a coplanarity inspection fixture for use in determining the coplanarity of a printed wiring assembly with respect to an attached edge connector. Another objective of the present invention is to provide for a coplanarity inspection fixture that prevents damage and/or excessive bending of connector pins and/or sockets of accurate standard avionics modules prior to final connector mating. Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a simplified means to inspect the coplanarity of a module with respect to an attached edge connector, directly on a production floor without requiring a coordinate machine and/or specialized inspection equipment and procedures. A further object of the present invention is to provide a coplanarity inspection fixture that minimizes labor costs associated with coplanarity inspection and does not require specialized, high cost, personnel to operate it.